Hello.

[Mummy]

New here. Making maps for a forum I operate and looking for something free to help out.

Made this on Paint yesterday. Not bad, but I want something more rich.

Any ideas?

[Mummy]

Image

Shangri-La, within the Khyper-Diorem. Home of the Gods.

[Hai-Etlik]

Well, you might want to start off with some different software. Some people have done some very impressive work in MS Paint but it is quite restrictive and requires you to work around it's limitations.

The GIMP and Inkscape are a good start: http://gimp.org/, http://inkscape.org/. I use Inkscape mostly myself.

Look through the Tutorials section and search for the name of the software you are using. You should also look at the Mapping Resources section which has many symbol sets, patterns, textures, and the like.

Specific to your map, I'd recommend staying away from "script" typefaces. They are hard to read and maps particularly benefit from clear readable text. Avoid mixing typefaces too. If you want to use variations in type to indicate something, try to stick within one family.

And one final thing, you can upload images to the forum; just click "Go Advanced" while editing and then click the Paperclip icon.

[ZedHunter]

nice. I like it!

[Mummy]

Used GIMP before, but only for image editing... I read somewhere on the forums that that was usable... I'll have to try it out.

[Korash]

Yeah, Gimp is "usable" for map making. Like Hai-Etlik said, look through the tutorials section for the Gimp tuts. Specifically, look for RobA's Creating a Regional Map in Gimp tutorial. It is a great way to get introduced to using Gimp for maps. Once you feel comfortable with that one, try others until you develope a style you like. You can also try tuts for Photoshop once you are familiar with Gimp as many of the processes are quite similar.

I am sure that you will enjoy your stay at the Guild.

[Mummy]

I'm actually more familiar with Photoshop than I am with GIMP... would you say that photoshop would be preferable?

Of course, they will both have their pros and cons, so that's a hard question, so maybe I should define that one a bit more. Basically I'm looking for ease of use, appearance (I really like the style of this one), detail (the greater, the better), and how easy it would be to modify the map in case of a mistake, a desire to build on to it, uncovering of new locations, or whatever reason might arise.

Thank you for the advice and warm welcome, Korash. You're of the utmost helpfulness.